Almost 60 Percent of Chicago Parishes Had An Accused Predator Priest

As a former Catholic who left the Church in disgust over the sex abuse scandal, I continue to be dismayed by the number of well intentioned people who continue to mindlessly remain in the Catholic Church and by their donations underwrite the utterly corrupt and morally bankrupt Church hierarchy. Perhaps many like to think the sex abuse scandal "happened somewhere else" or some other fabricated justification that allows them to avoid what they ought to be doing: demanding a top to bottom reform of the Catholic Church and voting with their feet if their demands are not met. Membership numbers, and most importantly, money are the only things that truly matter to the bitter old men at the Vatican. A new report that looks at parishes in the Chicago area found that almost SIXTY PERCENT of parishes had house a predatory priest at some point. The problem is NOT conveniently some where else in all too many instances. Meanwhile, NO ONE in the Church hierarchy - including Benedict XVI - has been held truly accountable for their criminal cover ups. I can't help but ask myself WTF is wrong with the Catholic laity? Here are highlights from the Chicago Tribune:
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More than half of Chicago's Roman Catholic parishes have had a priest accused of sexually abusing a child working there at some point, according to a study released today that was quickly questioned by the Chicago Archdiocese.
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In some cases, multiple priests accused of misconduct worked at the same church, according to the study, conducted by reform groups Voice of the Faithful, African American Advocates for Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "In almost 60 percent of the parishes, an accused predator worked there," said Barbara Blaine, president of SNAP.
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For example, from 1980 to 1990, 57.7% of Chicago parishes had an accused priest working there, said Bob Kopp, one of the study's researchers and vice president of Chicagoland Voice of the Faithful. Other decades examined in the study had similar percentages of affected parishes, he said.
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She is calling for victims to speak up. "Silence protects predators." "We need to start talking about this and ... not bury it under the carpet," Kopp said.
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Numerous churches, including Saint Leonard Parish in Berwyn, Saint Aloysius Church in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood and Saint Christina Parish in Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood, had multiple accused priests come through in various years, according to the study.
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A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese said she had not seen the report and could not comment.